> China (at least its current incarnation with Xi) doesn't care about soft power That’s just wrong. Xi has explicitly ordered cadres to "tell China’s story wel

> China (at least its current incarnation with Xi) doesn't care about soft power That’s just wrong. Xi has explicitly ordered cadres to "tell China’s story well"[1] and build "discourse power" that’s textbook soft-power ambition. Surveys show it’s working, China jumped to #3 in 2024 and #2 in 2025 on brand finance’s global soft power index. 1. https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspective/2022-90-tell-chinas-story-well-chinese-embassies-media-outreach-in-southeast-asian-media-by-wang-zheng https://www.iseas.edu.sg/articles-commentaries/iseas-perspec... > We already have piracy coming back with the Houthis; China didn't join the alliance with other countries, defended their own ships and ignored everyone else. This is NOT piracy. Under UNCLOS Art. 101, piracy requires acts "for private ends" on the high seas. The Houthi campaign is openly political/armed-conflict behavior, so it doesn’t meet the piracy definition (even though it looks like it to laypeople).